A Review of the Use of Ethnographic Techniques in Educational Research.

Wilson, Stephen; And Others

There is growing interest in the use of anthropological (also called qualitative, phenomenological, or ethnographic) techniques in educational research. Because ethnographic methodology differs significantly from the research approaches more commonly used in education, its rationale, its data collection processes, and the nature of its findings may be misunderstood. Therefore, this article reviews the differences between this kind of research and the techniques more familiar to educational researchers by explaining the rationale behind its use and by discussing some of the processes by which this research is conducted. The underlying principle guiding ethnographic research is the assumption that individuals have meaning structures that determine much of their behavior. The research seeks to discover what these meaning structures are, how they develop, and how they influence behavior, in as comprehensive and objective fashion as possible. The ethnographic research process is described and examples given according to (1) entry and establishment of researcher role, (2) data collection procedures, (3) objectivity, and (4) analysis of data. (Author/MLF)